University Atmospheric Control Laboratories

Poland, and Silesia in particular, contends with “London-type” smog in the winter season because heat engineering and power industry are based, first of all, on burning coal and wood, and with “Los Angeles-type” smog in the summer, which is caused by the increase in the number of cars and by using them by residents of the Silesian agglomeration, who constitute nearly 1/10 of the population of Poland. ganic compounds, plant pollen, zooplankton, gas components and soot concentration (Black Carbon). The balloon is an excellent laboratory which shows the problems we contend with and what should be done to change the situation and improve the quality of air in the region, which will have a global effect on the improvement of the condition of the atmosphere.

university of Silesia in Katowice has created university atmospheric Control Laboratories (ULKA) and the aerial mobile laboratory, the only one of this kind in Poland, located in the basket of a hot air balloon designed for research on atmosphere pollution and widely understood ecological education of the youth. the balloon is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment which allows for registering pollution changes vertically, up to approx. 4,000 m above ground level, and migration of pollution horizontally, according to wind directions. the research covers both mineral and orresearch results are presented to children and school youth at symposia, conferences and meetings of local community in order to educate and cooperate with the local government with the aim of implementing innovative ecological actions in line with the principles of sustainable development gions of the world. today, while coal is still an important commodity of the Silesian economy, heavy industry is being replaced by high-tech enterprises. It is the entrepreneurial energy of well-educated young Silesians that directs the future of the region.

Mariola Jabłońska, PhD hab. Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice Project manager of University Atmospheric Control Laboratories (ULKA)